1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a toy, more particularly to a learning toy for young children that provides a variety of games for playing as well as for developing learning and cognitive skills in children.
2. Description of the Related Art
With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, a learning board unit 1 generally used in teaching young children, which mainly comprises a base 11, a transparent face panel 12, a picture card 13 and a plurality of peg elements 14 of various geometric shapes, is shown. The transparent face panel 12 is provided with a plurality of projections 122 formed on a front face 121 thereof, and two elongate channels 123 formed on the upper and lower edges of the base 11, respectively. The face panel 12 is overlaid on the base 11 by passing the face panel 12 through the left or right side of the base 11, with the upper and lower edges of the face panel 12 inserted in the two elongate channels 123, respectively. The picture card 13 is placed between the base 11 and the face panel 12. The plurality of peg elements 14 are each formed with a recess 142 on one side 141 thereof into which the projection 122 may be fitted in engagement. With the board unit 1 thus assembled, a child may, according to the color, drawing or word(s) shown on the picture card 13 which can be viewed through the transparent face panel 12, attach selected peg elements 14 onto the face panel 12 by fitting the projections 122 in corresponding recesses 142 of the selected peg elements 14 to form a combination which corresponds to the color, drawing or word(s) shown on the picture card 13, or to form a unique and meaningful pattern independent of that shown in the picture 13.
According to the construction described above, the face panel 12 and the picture card 13 are assembled to and disassembled from the base 11 by inserting or withdrawing the same from the elongate channels 123 of the base 11. If the face panel 12 were considerably large, such inserting and withdrawing operations would evidently be quite difficult and require considerable effort. Moreover, because the peg elements 14 are attached onto the face panel 12 by fitting the projections 122 on the face panel 12 into the respective recesses 142 of the peg elements 14, the stability of the connection will be affected if the depth of connection is limited. Therefore, the face panel 12 is suitable only for attachment of lightweight and small peg elements 14 thereon. In terms of the teaching function, the board unit 1 provides no more than the general function of fitting the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle on a board, in which variations are manifestly insufficient. The present invention is thus contrived in an attempt to alleviate the above shortcomings of the prior art.